IEA Sees Oil Market Supply Deficit Deepen Significantly This Year

Global oil demand will exceed supply in the second quarter, and even more so until the end of the year, if OPEC extends the production cuts, according to Neil Atkinson, head of oil analysis at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “It is starting to become clear that if the objective of the OPEC cuts was to flip the market from surplus into deficit that is now slowly beginning to happen,” Atkinson said at the Platts Crude Oil Summit in London on Wednesday, as quoted by MarketWatch . The market is largely expecting OPEC to extend its production cuts until the end of this year, and Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih has even hinted at extending the deal into early 2018, citing producers’ resolve to do ‘whatever it takes’ to rebalance the market. The IEA has been optimistic that the balance will be achieved. As early as its March Oil […]